No More Nightwing
by Simply Bookworm
Summary: YJ Darkest AU. Instead of Artemis pretending to die, Nightwing goes undercover under the guise of Renegade. Can he keep his old identity from slipping away? Will Deathstroke kill him? What will happen to our beloved bird?
1. Chapter 1

Nightwing knew that everything went according to plan... but that didn't mean he had to like it.

As Kaldur snapped an inhibitor collar around his neck, Nightwing looked up with a smirk and said quietly, "Sorry, no powers for your collar to turn off."

Kaldur looked at the hero in front of him and wished he did not have to go through with the plan. He forced a grin and said, "That is not all they do," he pressed a button and the collar began to electrocute his former teammate. As he watched his friend writhe on the ground, he felt a stab of guilt and remorse. Why couldn't the Reach have just stayed in space? Then he and his old friend would not have to do this. He decided it had been on long enough and turned off the flow of electricity. Nightwing's body continued to spasm small spasms, and there was a slightly charred smell coming off him, but Kaldur knew the electricity hadn't been on long enough to do any permanent damage. He sent his friend an apologetic look that he made sure none of his current crew saw, then turned around to order his men to take the metas in the cave at this point: Beast Boy, Impulse, and Blue Beetle. Nightwing had said when they were discussing the plan that he wanted as many people out of the cave as possible.

"You won't gt away with this!" Nightwing said.

This was the cue he needed to do whatever he could think of on the spot that would slip Nightwing a flash drive that the young hero would give to Wally before he went into a coma from a medicine he would take, then he would 'die', allowing Kaldur to 'revive' him, and they would proceed with the plan from there.

Kaldur punched Nigthwing in the gut, which provided him with the perfect position for him to discreetly slip Nightwing the flash drive.

"I'm sorry," Kaldur whispered, lips hardly moving. Nightwing was still doubled over, so he went to the tan case he had brought along that held a bomb much like the one that was use to blow up Malina Island. He unzipped the bomb and brought out a decoy trigger. "This bomb is identical to the one used to blow up Malina Island," he pressed down on the trigger, "I am holding down the dead man's switch, if for any reason my finger comes off of this, the bomb will explode. There is a five mile range. Do not attempt to pursue." With that, Kaldur turned and nodded to the Terror Twins. They nodded back and each picked up a hero. In Tommy's case, two.

They walked back to their entry point and onto the plane. Once Kaldur, the Terror Twins, and Icicle Jr. were out of sight and hearing range, Nightwing straightened, walked over to an unconscious Superboy, shaking him awake while at the same time steeling himself for what he was about to do.

"SB, dude, you better be feeling the aster, or we're both not gonna be traught." once Superboy was awake, he turned to him and said, "Take the Supercycle and go, I have to make sure everyone's out. I'll be right behind you," he added when he saw the clone's look of trepidation.

Once Superboy finally relented, he ran back through the mountain, checking every bedroom, bathroom, and the commons and kitchen, even though he knew no one was still in the mountain. He had to make it look like he was just too slow to outrun the blast. When he knew Kaldur would be about to push the real trigger, he ran for the bay doors. He jumped just as the bomb went off. He felt the heat of the blast, felt shrapnel and rock embed themselves in his skin, and when he was about three feet from the water, a large chunk of rock about the size of the Supercycle hit his arm, shattering the bone. He was unconscious from the pain before he hit the water.

When he came back to himself, his eyelids felt heavy, like they were each weighted with bricks. When he did manage to open them, he immediately tried to shut them again from the bright lights. He noticed he couldn't feel his arm and his back was a mess of weird tingling sensations and sharp pains. He let out a quiet groan of discomfort, and noted that his lungs felt dry and brittle, which, if his memory served right, he probably breathed some seawater before Conner was able to get to him. It was then that he noticed someone had been having a conversation that had abruptly stopped.

Someone grabbed his hand and spoke, "Dick?" he now recognized the hand as that of his little brother, Tim. He was definitely one of the ones that Dick would most regret having to leave behind when he went undercover.

"Timmy?" he tried to say, but a breathing tube got in the way so it came out garbled and ragged.

He felt a hand remove the breathing tube and hold a straw to his lips. He started taking small sips, knowing not to drink to much at one time. The straw pulled away when he gave the signal he was finished. He opened his eyes more fully and saw his family. Tim, Babs, and Wally. He smiled and they grinned and came forward, hugging the life out of him. Once he had greeted everyone, Wally asked if they could be left alone for a while.

His face dropped the smile and he frowned. "Where is it?"

Dick's hand unclenched where it was resting at his side, and offered his palm up. On it was a small, unsuspecting flash drive. Wally took it, and stepped back again.

"So now we proceed?" he asked, a questioning look on his face.

Dick nodded, "Yes. Do you have it?"

Wally reached into his jean's pocket and pulled out a circular, white pill about the size of his pinky nail. "Here, and just so you know, I still don't like this part of the plan."

Nightwing popped the pill in his mouth and swallowed it dry. "Yeah," he stated, falling backward slightly, "I don't either." He fell back the rest of the way.

Wally, following a script Nightwing and he had come up with, yelled for help. Tim and Barbara ran back in, saw their brother relatively unharmed, and Wally with a carefully constructed concerned look plastered on his face, just a little of his real concern for the plan showing through.

"What happened?" Barbara demanded, rushing forward to check Nightwing's pulse and vitals.

"We were talking and he just passed out!" More of the real concern was showing through now. Did he get the dosage right? The heart monitor was still on that steady beeping rhythm, so he thought he did.

The horrified look on Babs's face was answer enough, the pill did its job. "He's in a coma," she announced to the silent room.

Tim let out a small sob, and ran from the room to find the rest of the team. Their leader had fallen into a coma, he thought they deserved to know. Babs was quick to follow.

Wally turned and spoke to the unmoving boy in front of him, almost as white as the sheets beneath him. "I hope you know what you're doing, Rob." With that, he walked from the room to go back to his apartment in Palo Alto. Artemis needed to know their part of the plan was finished.

 **If you liked this, please check out my other stories! I would appreciate any feedback you would like to give. See you lovelies later! =) Find me on wattpad at SimplyBookworm1604**


	2. Chapter 2

Last time: _Wally turned and spoke to the unmoving boy in front of him, almost as white as the sheets beneath him. "I hope you know what you're doing, Rob." With that, he walked from the room to go back to his apartment in Palo Alto. Artemis needed to know their part of the plan was finished._

As Kaldur walked through the halls of the Watchtower, he thought of the last time he and the team had been together, just the six of them. It had been a sunny day, and they had been playing on the beach. Well, Wally was splashing his girlfriend, Artemis, and M'gann and Conner were spectating the seemingly playful duel with their toes in the water. Kaldur and Robin, however, were sitting side by side, talking about anything they could think of, like school (Robin had told them his secret identity by now), Atlantis, and their last mission. Red Tornado had come out and told them to get suited up and into the debriefing room, they had a mission. That mission ended up being to rescue a green child-who they found out was Garfield Logan, the child they had seen on that mission in Bialya all those months ago. He had gotten really sick from a disease a monkey was carrying, and the cure mixed with the Martian DNA from M'gann made it so he could turn into animals.*

They took the boy back to the Mountain, and now he was a part of the team. Kaldur eventually got to the med bay, and walked in to find Nightwing, still in the coma, and walked over to him. He pulled another pill- this one a low blue- from one of many hidden pockets. He pulled Dick's jaw down, opening his mouth and allowing Kaldur to slip in the little blue pill. He closed the comatose hero's mouth and plugged his nose, forcing him to swallow the pill. This pill was engineered like to one used to put the hero in a coma in the first place, except it would slow his heart down enough that it would be undetectable even by super hearing. Around five seconds after he swallowed the pill, the monitor beside Nightwing stopped beeping, instead letting out a long, drawn-out _beeeeeeeeep._

An alarm sounded, shaking Kaldur out of his stupor. He would need to leave before people came running. He gave one last look to his friend lying on the white sheets, and left the Watchtower. He would come back after everyone had seen the body, to know that their friend, brother, and leader, was dead.

 **So, this story has no views so far, which is fine, but to those of you who eventually read this:**

 **Feedback is every writer's wet dream. Well, maybe not every writer, but you get what I mean. I would appreciate feedback. I always update whenever I can. Some chapters will be long, others will be about this length. I always try to get my chapters to at least 300 words. Bye~ :)**

*I mixed two backstories that I have heard, I have no idea which is canonically correct, so I squished them together.


	3. Chapter 3

Last time: _He gave one last look to his friend lying on the white sheets, and left the Watchtower. He would come back after everyone had seen the body, to know that their friend, brother, and leader, was dead._

Tim and Barbara-as themselves- rushed into the Watchtower at an unholy hour of the morning.

If you listened close, you would hear Tim muttering "No, no, not him. Please, God, not him," under his breath, tears shining in his eyes. When they got to the med bay, and Barbara checked for a pulse, she shook her head, and you could hear the cry of anguish from Dick's little brother throughout the entire space station.

Nightwing woke up with a gasp, covered in a cold sweat. He looked to his left and saw an unfamiliar black wall. He looked right and saw his Atlantean friend. He got Kaldur's attention with a small rasp, then asked, "How long?"

His old team leader looked him dead in the eye, and told him, "If I had waited any longer, my friend, you would not be alive to have this conversation."

"Thanks, Kal. Let's go. You got the replacement?" Nightwing sat up with little difficulty, and stood, facing his friend.

It was then that Nightwing noticed a black bag that Kaldur was carrying at his side. Kaldur, wanting to get it over with quickly, unzipped the bag. He and Nightwing pulled a John Doe out of the duffel, placing it on the med table with care. Nightwing stripped his costume off, and, piece by piece, they dressed the decoy in his costume. When it was done, the sheet pulled over the dead man's head, Nightwing turned to the son of Black Manta.

"Where did you get him?" He gestured to the body on the table.

Kaldur took him in with a look of consideration and pity for what Nightwing was getting himself into with this plan. "I took him from a hospital in Detroit, no one will miss him. He has no living family, if it makes you feel better."

It didn't.

"Can you hand me the bag?" Nightwing was avoiding having that conversation, Kaldur could tell.

Kaldur handed Dick the black duffel that contained the persona he would take on for the next few months, and Dick got changed.

Dick looked at his friend of six years, and knew, he might not survive this. The persona he had been carefully crafting for months was finally being put into action. He would become the persona of an international Russian assassin, and he was scared. He finished getting dressed, and turned to Kaldur.

The costume was almost all black. He had orange shoulder pads, and knee and shin guards, as well as his gauntlets. The mask was his regular black domino, but was spiked in the middle and on the winged ends.

"Are you ready to go, Nightwing?" Kaldur asked, eyeing his friends new get up.

Dick looked at him solemnly. "Not Nightving, I be da Renegade now."

 **That's it for this chapter, and I was thinking next chapter I could show the team and Bats on earth grieving. In this, Jason is alive and already Red Hood, and he's mad he didn't get told about his older brother's death.**


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